Foo Fighters, Lorde, Backstreet Boys to headline BottleRock ‘26
Latitude 38 Entertainment will present the 13th edition of BottleRock Napa Valley on May 22-24. Long-time BottleRock talent buyer and Director of Artist Experience, Tom Hoppa, talked last week about a sample of the artists who will be performing at this year’s festival and about the process of acquiring talent for BottleRock and rock festivals in general.
Hoppa began with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and 11-time Grammy winners Foo Fighters, who this year will be headlining BottleRock for the third time.
“The first time we worked with them was incredible,” he said. “BottleRock was in a growth position in 2017 and really coming into its own. It was one of the first years that we sold out the festival and Foo Fighters was one of the biggest rock bands in the world at the time, and they still are. When they returned in 2021, it was post-COVID and they were really excited to be back out and playing again and we were very happy to have them back.
“They love BottleRock and they love Napa. And it’s not just Dave Grohl, it’s all the band members. They’re all such wonderful people and I consider them all friends of the festival. No doubt about that.
“You look at the rock bands that we’ve had over the years and it’s Metallica and Green Day and Pearl Jam and Guns N’ Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters. To have those bands play in our backyard is such an honor.”
Lorde (Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor) is a two-time Grammy winner, likewise a two-time Brit Award winner and a Golden Globe nominee. The New Zealander will make her first BottleRock appearance this year.
“I’ve been watching Lorde since she emerged on the music scene when she was 16 years old,” Hoppa said. “She had that massive single (“Royals”), and she was on very large stages and had a lot of success at a very young age. She’s put out a lot of music since then, and she’s headlined many large venues. Her latest album (“Virgin”) is kind of her emergence as a woman, going into an adult phase of her life.
“Artists like Billie Eilish might not be in their position without Lorde and what she did 10 years ago. Lorde is an incredible artist who really connects with young females and that’s absolutely important to our festival. She has an incredible fan base and and a very large one here in San Francisco. She blew out her last show here in the Bay Area, selling out all the tickets in minutes. We’re very confident that she’s going to do a great job at BottleRock.”
Rounding out the top BottleRock ’26 headliners, Backstreet Boys are the most popular and commercially successful pop boy band in the world. With over 130 million albums sold, they are among the best-selling artists of all time. Their extended Las Vegas residences have been massively attended, the last being at The Sphere in 2025. 2026 will mark their BottleRock debut.
“Teddy Swims is wildly popular,” Hoppa said. “His song, ‘Lose Control,’ is one of the most streamed songs of all time, with over two billion streams on Spotify alone. That really was his first big hit, and it continues to be on the charts on every radio station in that adult contemporary music world. He’s got such a great voice and he’s so talented.
“The funny thing was he was in a metal band when he was younger. He eventually transitioned into a more soulful sound. I’ve seen him many times. His crowds are always massive and they’re always singing along. I would recommend to those who are not familiar with his music, that they get familiar with it before Bottle Rock. It’s going to be a sing-along and you certainly don’t want to be left out.”
Hoppa continued, “I love Tom Morello and his style. I’ve been watching him for decades. Rage Against The Machine was one of the most successful bands of the ‘90s and 2000s, and they continue to be very relevant today. Morello has a lot to do with that. The sound of Rage Against The Machine wouldn’t be the sound of Rage Against The Machine without Tom Morello. He’s a guitar wizard, a magician. He’s incredible and his set at BottleRock is not to be missed. I actually think that he should be a lot bigger. Touring now as ‘Tom Morello’ and letting people see him in that light, as opposed to being part of Rage Against The Machine or his band Audioslave, this is Tom’s time.”
Hoppa also mentioned Joan Jett. “My 12-year-old daughter just loves her, just thinks that she’s the best. Jett transcends generations, what she did with The Runaways back in the day, and then into her own solo career. She still has new listeners today. She is one of the top female musicians in rock and roll and we are honored to have her at BottleRock.”
Booking BottleRock over the years
As BottleRock’s Talent Buyer, Hoppa has been intimately involved in booking the festival since 2014. Asked about that challenge, Hoppa spoke in some detail about the industry and about the successes and obstacles over the years.
“In the beginning,” he said, “the first few years, there was nothing easy about it. As a new festival, you’ve to get the trust of agents, managers and artists. You have to prove to them that you are a good host and that you can produce an event safely and professionally in a way that meets the standards of world-class artists.
“Over the years we’ve grown as a team. The quality and vibrancy of it has improved and it hasn’t stopped improving. Every single year it gets bigger, not just physically, but internally. You can experience how much bigger and brighter and better everything is, from the signage to the stage sizes, to everything that goes along with being inside the event. There’s so much to do and so much fun to be had. That helps us with booking. The bands have a good time and they want to come back. Their families and their friends have a great time. They hear from their people about how great BottleRock is and that helps us, that’s what makes it easier.
“The hard part,” Hoppa said, “is the evolution of the music industry and what we’re going through at this time. The festival bubble is an interesting place. Festivals are not as popular to play for the A-level artists anymore. We work very hard to get our headliners and we do succeed in finding artists who really want to play BottleRock. We have some incredible artists this year and we have a very deep lineup, which is great. But it’s never easy. It’s always very difficult, but satisfying at the end of the day. All the work that we do, banging our heads against the wall for months, still always feels like it’s worth it.
“We, of course, compete with other festivals. Artists, just like everybody else, have 365 days on their calendar and so there’s only so many things that they can do. Everybody’s got families. Everybody’s got plans. Everybody’s got places that they want to be, obligations, weddings, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Artists are humans, too, and their schedule doesn’t always line up with ours. And so we do our best to go after the artists that we want. We try to to align with everybody the best that we can. Not everybody’s plans and intentions align at the same time. Still, we do put together approximately 80 artists that are great every single year. It’s never easy, but it’s always rewarding.”
See bottlerocknapavalley.com for further details and tickets.
The complete BottleRock 2026 lineup includes:
Foo Fighters, Backstreet Boys and Lorde
Teddy Swims, LCD Soundsystem and SOMBR
Lil Wayne; Zedd, Ludacris; Papa Roach; Mt. Joy; Slightly Stoopid; Rilo Kiley; AJR; Busta Rhymes; BigXthaPlug; Jon Bellion; Chaka Khan; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Bush; Tash Sultana; Kool & The Gang; flipturn; Del Water Gap; Børns; Maoli; Men at Work; Matt Maeson; Natasha Bedingfield; Tom Morello; Rev Run (of Run DMC); Cut Copy; Larkin Poe; Better than Ezra; The California Honeydrops; The Beths; Sons of the East; Arrested Development; almost monday; Good Neighbours; The Warning; Midnight Generation; Paco Versailles; Chevy Metal; Treach (of Naughty by Nature); Buffalo Traffic Jam; Absolutely; Melt; Nilüfer Yanya; Paris Jackson; The Return of Jackie and Judy; The Heavy Heavy; Charlotte Lawrence; DJ Pauly D (Silent Disco); Meredith Marks (Silent Disco), Jess King (Silent Disco), The Paper Kites, The Paradox, Zinadelphia; Penelope Road; Saxsquatch; New Constellations; Hannah Cohen; Izzy Escobar; Girl Tones; Folk Bitch Trio; Indy; The Alive; Moonalice; The Chin Chins; Nat Myers; Alec Shaw; Betty Taylor; Khatumu; Malick Koly; Jake Zimma; The Rookie5; The Silverado Pickups; DJ Umami; Bettina Maureenji and the Napa Valley Youth Symphony.
